'Lifelong, life-wide and life-deep learning'

A researcher from the department of Education will soon have the opportunity to once again team up with a former student at this year’s Congress of l’ Association francophone pour le savoir (Acfas).

Arpi Hamalian will be joined by Audrey Dahl, now a tenure-track professor at UQÀM, to discuss the current state of adult education at the event, Vers de nouveaux sommets en éducation des adultes : ce qui a été accompli et ce qu’il reste à réaliser 35 ans après le Rapport Jean. 

“I had Arpi as a Professor during my graduate studies in the Education department at Concordia,” says Dahl. “She introduced me to the field of Adult Education studies, and she still offers thoughtful guidance to me. Because of her advice, I'm involved with the Canadian Association for the Study of Adult Education (CASAE/ACÉÉA).”

It was that involvement that led Dahl and Hamalian to organize a one-day conference in partnership with CASAE/ACÉÉA, as part of the Acfas Congress. Many actors from across the adult education sector will be present.

The conference will address the 35th anniversary of the Commission d'étude sur la formation professionnelle et socioculturelle des adultes (also known as the Jean Report, named after the President of the Commision Michèle Stanton Jean). The breakthrough report on adult education commissioned by the Québec government covered myriad dimensions of adult education. 

“To facilitate the examination of the different aspects of the Jean Report, we took the subtitles of the report for the organisation of the different sessions of the conference,” explains Hamalian. 

“Therefore, it will be easy to examine what has been achieved under each section of the Jean Report to date, and what needs to be implemented to increase the levels of STEM and STEAM competencies and skills of the citizens of Quebec.”

Stanton Jean will be amongst the participants. “The most interesting part of my association with Audrey and Michèle Stanton Jean is the mentorship and succession preparation between three generations of adult education professors, researchers, teachers and activists to advance the study and practice of adult education,” Hamalian says.

Dahl hopes the event will provoke people to think more about adult education. “When we think about education, we have tendencies to firstly think about education for children,” she says.

In reality,education doesn't stop when we become adult. In fact, we learn all our life, as illustrated by UNESCO's widely accepted proposal of “lifelong, life-wide and life-deep learning”. With today's challenges, we need to think about adult education beyond basic literacy learning; we now talk about multiple literacies: science literacy, health literacy, financial literacy, digital literacy, media literacy, and more.”

Hamalian and Dahl have no plans to slow down, as the Acfas event has now spawned a year-long series dedicated to looking at the state of Adult Education in Québec. “The series being coordinated by different universities and adult education representatives, aims to highlight the importance of adult education,” Hamalian says.

The duo has hopes the discussions they and other researchers will generate at Acfas will lead to real political impact. “In advance of the next municipal and provincial elections, adult education will be central to policy platforms, because its role is so crucial in enhancing quality of life of the province’s citizens and communities,” says Hamalian. 

With two determined educators and researchers leading the way, adult education may just have the champions needed to get the job done.

Vers de nouveaux sommets en éducation des adultes : ce qui a été accompli et ce qu’il reste à réaliser 35 ans après le Rapport Jean is taking place at McGill University during Acfas on Tuesday, May 9, from 9am to 5pm, followed by a networking reception.

The complete program can be viewed here. 

Other Concordians presenting at the event include:

Alex Megelas: MA graduate Educational Studies program, Department of Education, Concordia (2014), Arpi Hamalian Committee Member.  Alex is presently employed at Concordia: Program & Communications Coordinator; Advancement/External Relations.

Marlon Sanches: MA Candidate in Educational Studies, Arpi Hamalian MA thesis advisor, Department of Education and admitted to the doctoral program in the Department of Education, start date September 2017.

Lina Shoumarova: MA Candidate in Educational Studies, Department of Education, Concordia University.

Constanza Silva: PhD Candidate in Educational Technology, Department of Education, Concordia University, Arpi Hamalian Committee Member.